Blue Heeler/Border Collie Mix- Question on socialization

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Member Since 03/25/2013

Barked: Mon Mar 25, '13 6:53pm PST

I'm fairly experienced with dogs (no expert though) and my wife and I are looking to adopt. We have done our research and are super interested in heelers in particular for the type of lives we lead (we are very active and want a good, smart dog to go on adventures with us). We found a heeler/collie mix near us being fostered and just waiting to be rescued. here's our dilema:

she is 1 year old and currently with another dog in her foster home. she is super well behaved, plays with the labradoodle all the time, and is even fine around the 6 month old baby in the house. they have tried to place her twice and she has come back each time. First was to a house with a stay at home mom and some young kids that took all of the mom's attention, so the dog didnt get exercise or attention as much as it needed and began to act out, especially around other dogs. the second time was to a marathon runner who ran her 5 miles every night or so to exercise her. she was fine until whenever she was put outside. she started digging and getting destructive. Im assuming that the runner was gone for at least a good part of the day. neither place had other dogs.

the adoption people now seem like they wont send her to a home without at least one other dog. they say she needs the socialization or she wigs out (and they are right)

finally, THE QUESTION. In our research (and a good reason we picked the breed) we have found that it seems like these dogs need both mental AND physical exercise, otherwise they act out. I am assuming she lacked both in the first home, and mental stimulation in the second. We are planning on showering our dog with attention, playtime, games, and exercise, and even though we live in an apartment with no other dogs, the longest we would leave her at home alone is 4 or 5 hours while we are at work. I am not totally convinced that she acted out for lack of another dog, but rather for lack of exercise, or mental stimulation, or attention (especially) and any combination of it. what do all of you think?

We are great with dogs, feel good about her, and feel like we could make her life wonderful and exciting and active, but we are not the experts and want to do what's best for the dog first and foremost. (sorry for the long post, and thanks for the help)

My first dog Reggie was a Border Collie/heeler mix, commonly referred to as a Texas heeler. I got hin in high school after begging my mom to let me get a dog. He was my pride and joy and I spent a lot of time training him and socializing him. I unfortunately spent a summer away from Reggie and lost some important socialization time with him, and he grew very territorial, but never harmed anyone. Needless to say that was over ten years ago and he has been the greatest dog and given my family so much more than I ever expected him too. He was so great that when I moved out my mom, who was so apposed to getting Reggie, wouldn't let me take him! So I ended up with Loki, another heeler mix, also an incredible dog in his own right.

The dog you are getting is only around a year old, its going to get into trouble, and there are going to be bumps in the road. You have to be willing to deal with that crazy teenage/young adult dog stage to get to the rewarding life you will have with them. The other people who had this dog obviously didn't realized this. You folks sound like it won't be hard to dedicate the time and love needed to achieve that rewarding bond.